Schwarzenegger Takes A Page out of Bush's Book

[CAcyclist]

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Date: 18 Oct 2006 09:16:28 -0700
Subject: Surprise! Arnold administratively guts state CO2 regulation
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Published Tuesday, October 17, 2006, in the San Francisco Chronicle

Núñez slams governor on emission law

By Mark Martin

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and some environmental groups charged
Monday that an executive order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to
sign today undermines an agreement the governor struck with Democrats
on the state's landmark global warming law.

Schwarzenegger will sign an order giving the secretary of the
Environmental Protection Agency the duty of overseeing parts of the
law's implementation and emphasizes the development of a new market
allowing companies to buy and sell greenhouse gas emissions credits.

Núñez said that the executive order gives more power to the executive
branch than the law calls for and that the governor's emphasis on a
market-based approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions ignored
other aspects of the law. He suggested the governor was
reinterpreting the law based on proposals he had suggested to
lawmakers during negotiations over the legislation this year but that
had been rejected by the Legislature.

"You can't rewrite a law through executive order," said Núñez, D-Los
Angeles, who carried the bill. "This is totally inconsistent with the
intent of the law and with the way that it is written."
>snip<
The governor had proposed that a group of Cabinet secretaries oversee
the development of programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, but
lawmakers insisted that the Air Resources Board have the power to set
regulations requiring industries to lower emissions.

Schwarzenegger also insisted that the legislation require that a
market-based trading system be implemented to help companies reduce
emissions. The final version of the bill does not require the system,
however, instead requiring the Air Resources Board to consider it as
one way to meet the new greenhouse gas caps.

Schwarzenegger signed the legislation in August during lavish
ceremonies in San Francisco and Santa Monica, and is using the global
warming fight as a centerpiece of his re-election agenda.

The executive order Schwarzenegger announced Monday directs Adams to
create a committee of experts to make recommendations on how to
implement an emissions market, and gives her authority to develop an
economic analysis regarding various efforts to reduce greenhouse
gases.

Some environmentalists noted that the law gives that authority to the
Air Resources Board.

"He's trying to get back by executive order what he failed to get in
negotiations with the Legislature," said Bill Magavern, a lobbyist
with the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club supported the legislation but
has backed Schwarzenegger's opponent in the governor's race, state
Treasurer Phil Angelides.

And environmentalists had argued during negotiations that the board,
which has implemented most of the state's key environmental
protections during the past decades, was the appropriate group to set
greenhouse gas rules. While the board is made up of gubernatorial
appointees -- just as the Cabinet is -- it typically acts
independently of the governor.

Adams said her role was to help the board develop rules, saying "AB32
left some questions unanswered."

Núñez, however, said the role of the board was very clearly defined in
the bill.

"He's injecting a new agency into this that was never agreed to in the
legislation," said the speaker, who said he would call Schwarzenegger
today to discuss the executive order.

Many environmental groups are skeptical of an emissions trading
system, saying past efforts to use markets to reduce pollution haven't
always worked well.

Jane Williams, director of the group California Communities Against
Toxics, argued that a trading system could result in continued
pollution in some areas. Companies operating high-polluting power
plants, for example, could buy credits from another company and
continue running the plant, which emits both carbon dioxide and other
gases that contribute to localized air pollution.

That is why her group fought hard during negotiations to make sure a
trading system was not mandated.

She said Monday she was concerned that Schwarzenegger was trying to
ensure that an emissions trading system was implemented, instead of
allowing it to be one option the board considers.

Other options include requiring better energy efficiency in buildings
or enforcing laws that require automakers to build cleaner-burning
cars and electric utilities to increase their use of renewable power.

"We are very disappointed in the governor's actions," Williams said.

E-mail Mark Martin at [e-mail]

[ananda]

1. Boy that sucks!

Too bad Angelides is such a sorry, wimpy
opponent.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Well - at least he didn't take a page

out of Foley's book. :rofl: